Fort Gillem was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Post Post, POST, or posting may refer to: Postal services * Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal s ...

located in

Forest Park, Georgia Forest Park is a city in Clayton County, Georgia, United States. It is located approximately south of Atlanta and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,932. In the 1800s, Forest Park ...

, on the southeast edge of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

in Clayton County. Founded in 1941, it was a satellite installation of nearby

Fort McPherson Fort McPherson was a U.S. Army military base located in Atlanta, Georgia, bordering the northern edge of the city of East Point, Georgia. It was the headquarters for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Southeast Region; the U.S. Ar ...

. The base housed different supply and support units, including the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory and the 3rd MP Group (CID), both units of the

United States Army Criminal Investigation Command The United States Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID or DACID), previously known as the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (USACIDC), is the primary federal law enforcement agency of the United States Depa ...

. It employed 456

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. Indian The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one of the largest active service forces in the world, with almost 1.42 million Active Standin ...

personnel, 1,663 Army reservist, and 1,667 civilians. In 1973, its were annexed by

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China * Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fore ...

. The fort was named in the memory of

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Alvan Cullom Gillem, Jr.

History

The US Army established Fort Gillem in 1941 with the simultaneous construction of the Atlanta Quartermaster Depot and the Atlanta Ordnance Depot, which were mostly completed by December 1942. The two installations operated separately until April 1, 1948, when consolidated physically and operationally as the 'Atlanta Army Depot', a subcommand of the Army Materiel Command. The Atlanta Army Depot was deactivated on June 28, 1974. Locals referred to Fort Gillem as 'Conley Army Depot'.

Environmental contamination

Buried landfills have contaminated ground water under neighborhoods north and south of Gillem, and inspectors sampled indoor air early summer 2014 for

vapor intrusion Vapor intrusion (VI) is the process by which chemicals, usually volatile organic compounds (VOCs), in soil or groundwater migrate to indoor air above or around a contaminated site. The process of VI has been studied more recently in relation to i ...

. , 40 homes had been tested and 26 homes were found to have elevated levels of

benzene Benzene is an Organic compound, organic chemical compound with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar hexagonal Ring (chemistry), ring with one hyd ...

and

trichlorethylene Trichloroethylene (TCE) is an organochloride with the formula C2HCl3, commonly used as an industrial metal-degreasing solvent. It is a clear, colourless, non-flammable, volatile liquid with a chloroform-like pleasant mild smell and sweet taste.

. The chemicals, which entered the homes through groundwater, are those commonly used to strip metal" per the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. The Army plans to install air ventilation systems in these homes to "eliminate or greatly reduce any risk". If higher levels are found in any other homes, larger mitigation efforts will be undertaken during which residents would relocate.

Base closure and redevelopment

On May 13, 2005, the

Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) was a process by a Federal government of the United States, United States federal government commission to increase the efficiency of the United States Department of Defense by coordinating the realignment and ...

commission recommended that Fort Gillem, along with

and the

Navy Supply Corps School The Navy Supply Corps School (NSCS), located in Newport, Rhode Island, comprises a 20-week training "Basic Qualification Course" (BQC) and other courses for newly commissioned and other Supply Corps officers in the US Navy. Those who successf ...

be closed.Fort Gillem
New Georgia Encyclopedia. An exit ceremony was held at Fort Gillem on June 3, 2011, and First Army troops stationed there were transferred to the

Rock Island Arsenal The Rock Island Arsenal comprises 946 acres (383 ha) and is located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It is home to the United Stat ...

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

. In 2012, after five years of negotiations with the Army, the City of Forest Park purchased 1,170 acres comprising most of the former Fort Gillem for $30 million, and ownership was transferred to the Forest Park/Fort Gillem Implementation Local Redevelopment Authority (ILRA).Kathy Jefcoats, City officials wanted

mixed-use development Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...

on the property, but following the housing crash turned their focus to industrial, manufacturing,

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

and

business park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...

development. The only private residences are a 125-unit development owned by The Park, which has a lease with the Army set to expire in 2025. There are around 165 acres of contaminated groundwater on the site the cleanup of which the Army is responsible for. The clean up of the land was expected to take ten years. The

United States Army Criminal Investigation Division The United States Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID or DACID), previously known as the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (USACIDC), is the primary federal law enforcement agency of the United States Depa ...

Criminal Investigations Division Crime Lab, a forensic

crime laboratory A crime laboratory, often shortened to crime lab, is a scientific laboratory, using primarily forensic science for the purpose of examining evidence from criminal cases. Lab personnel A typical crime lab has two sets of personnel: *Field ana ...

, remains open on a 250-acre

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

retained by the Army. The Fort Gillem enclave also house the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS), also

Reserve Component The reserve components of the United States Armed Forces are military organizations whose members generally perform a minimum of 39 days of military duty per year and who augment the active duty (or full-time) military when necessary. The reserv ...

units of the

such as the Southeastern Army Reserve Intelligence Support Center (SEARISC), the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

3rd Medical Command Deployment Support, the 221st Military Intelligence Battalion of the

Georgia National Guard The Georgia National Guard is the National Guard of the United States, National Guard of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and consists of the Georgia Army National Guard and the Georgia Air National Guard. (The Georgia State Defe ...

and an ID Card office. It was decided to list Fort Gillem on the National Priorities List (NPL) of superfunds. On June 3, the Director of Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division, 2013, Judson Turner, requested from USEPA Region IV that the decision be postponed. On May 2, 2014 officials from the city and the

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

under exclusion of the public held a ceremony at Fort Gillem to commemorate the impending move. The city is partnering with developer Weeks Robinson Properties and hopes it will be booming again, when land re-enters the city and county’s tax digest and "companies such as Porsche North America removing their headquarters to the Forest Park and Hapeville area".

Notes

External links

Fort Gillem official websiteForrest Park/Fort Gillem redevelopment program
(forestparkga.org)

{{GAMilitary Buildings and structures in Clayton County, Georgia Former installations of the United States Army Gillem Gillem

History

Environmental contamination

Base closure and redevelopment

See also

Notes

External links